Kyle Busch leads playoff points, Kevin Harvick leads stage points

FONTANA, Calif. — Five races into the 2019 Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series season, Kyle Busch and Kevin Harvick lead the competition in playoff points and stage wins respectively.

Busch, who scored his 200th national series win in the Auto Club 400 Sunday, has earned 14 playoff points; 10 via his two race wins and 4 via stage wins.

Following Busch are Joey Logano with 6 playoff points; Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski (5); Ryan Blaney and Harvick (2); and Kyle Larson (1).

Harvick has netted 65 stage points. Joey Logano (63), Kyle Busch (57), Denny Hamlin (48) and Ryan Blaney (43) round out the top-five.

“We need to be faster,” said Harvick to The Racing Experts, who remains winless in 2019.

The total does not include points acquired during the Gander Outdoors Duels from Daytona in February.

OVERALL
22 drivers have earned at least one stage point in 2019.

Five drivers have won stages in 2019. Busch leads the field with four stage wins. Harvick and Ryan Blaney have won two stages. Kyle Larson and Joey Logano have each won one stage.

With the exception of the Coca-Cola 600 in May (four stages), every points awarding race in 2018 is broken up into three stages.

Each of the first two stages awards points to the top-10 finishing drivers. A first-place finish earns 10 points, second-place gets nine points, and so forth.

The next race for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series is next Sunday at Martinsville Speedway for the STP 500.

STAGE POINTS FOLLOWING AUTO CLUB

SOURCES
Racing-Reference.info